Oslo Freedom Forum

Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) is a conference about human rights first held in May 2009 in Oslo, Norway. Founded by the Human Rights Foundation. According to Thor Halvorssen (founder of the Human Rights Foundation), "the Oslo Freedom Forum is an intimate gathering where leaders who are transforming the world present effective solutions and inspiring testimonies that impact human rights and freedom. Speakers share diverse perspectives and expertise, from those individuals with first-hand experiences in the fight for human rights to those offering insight based on academic research and political and non-profit leadership". The forum aims to bring together world leaders including former heads of state, winners of the Nobel Peace Prize and prisoners of conscience as well as a selection of authors, together with business, political and cultural leaders from both Norway and internationally. According to the Forum website, the Oslo Freedom Forum is supported by Fritt Ord, the City of Oslo, the Thiel Foundation, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Sundt AS, the John Templeton Foundation, the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fredskorpset, Amnesty International Norway, Human Rights House Foundation, and Ny Tid. It is endorsed by several groups including the Nobel Peace Center, the University of Oslo, the Norwegian Author's Union, and the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights. It also received support from the government of Norway.

The second OFF took place in April 2010 in Oslo. Every speech was filmed and is posted at youtube.com/oslofreedomforum. It is supported by Norway's Fritt Ord, Amnesty International, the Nobel Peace Center, the Norwegian Author's Union, University of Oslo, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, the Thiel Foundation and the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights. In 2011 Oslo Freedom Forum will take place from May 9th to May 11th.

Forum
The OFF is produced by the Human Rights Foundation. The conference was funded with a grant from the Templeton Foundation, and also received support from the Norwegian government and the City government of Oslo. Partners for the 2009 are listed as Civita, Human Rights Action Center, International Society for Human Rights, Laogai Research Foundation, and Reporters Without Borders. In 2010 the Forum's partners include Norway's Freedom of Expression, Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, Amnesty, Civita, The Norwegian Helsinki Committee and Human Rights House Foundation.

The Forum's mission is to be the place where human rights defenders and social entrepreneurs from around the world can network and exchange ideas - where extraordinary human rights advocates lacking international support and recognition are given a platform to share their work with a global audience - where those with first-hand experience as survivors of human rights violations are able to share their insights with leaders who are shaping the world through journalism, business, philanthropy, and politics.

2009 Forum
Thor Halvorssen the conference’s 33-year-old founder explained to the Wall Street Journal in 2009: “We all should want freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom from torture, freedom to travel, due process and freedom to keep what belongs to you.” Unfortunately, he explains, “the human-rights establishment at the United Nations is limited to pretty words because so many member countries kill or imprison or torture their opponents.” John Fund writing in the Wall Street Journal about "Human Rights Beyond Ideology" said it "was unlike any human-rights conference I've ever attended. As at other such gatherings, racism and gender discrimination were on the minds of plenty of participants. But there was no desire to blame such problems on the U.S. or other Western nations. The emphasis was on promoting basic rights in all nations at all times." The article by Fundamentions that "Even Oslo's leftist newspaper Klassekampen (Class Struggle) overcame its initial skepticism, declaring the forum "an impressive assembly of people."

2010 Forum
Participants at the 2010 forum included Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer, North Korean dissenter Kang Chol-Hwan, former FARC hostage Clara Rojas, and Sudanese reformer Lubna al-Hussein. World leaders like Poland's Lech Walesa, Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim, and Estonia's Mart Laar presented, as did technology pioneers such as Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and entrepreneur Peter Thiel. Other notable speakers included Russian democracy advocate and chess master Garry Kasparov, Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, abolitionist and explorer Benjamin Skinner, former Cuban political prisoner Armando Valladares, and Chechen lawyer Lidia Yusupova, hailed as the bravest woman in Europe.

The Economist called the 2010 Forum "a spectacular human-rights festival" and described it as "on its way to becoming a human-rights equivalent of the Davos economic forum." Standpoint magazine says that the Oslo Freedom Forum "provides an intimate space for dissidents and human rights defenders from around the world to meet each other, to talk to internet entrepreneurs, academics, politicians, journalists and to draw inspiration and encouragement." Elsewhere coverage and mentions of the 2010 Forum can be found at CNN, Al Jazeera, Forbes, The Huffington Post, The Associated Press, The National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason Magazine, Foreign Policy, Front Page Africa, Standpoint Magazine, Aftenposten, Real Clear Politics, Radio Free Europe, TEDFellows, Current TV, Illume, and SBS Dateline.

Participants 2009
Among those present at the 2009 conference were:
 * Kjell Magne Bondevik (former Norwegian Prime Minister)
 * Sarah Ferguson (Duchess of York)
 * Vytautas Landsbergis (former Latvian President)
 * Kristin Clemet (former education minister)
 * Mutabar Tadjibayeva (former Uzbeki political prisoner)
 * Aliaksandr Bialiatski (Belarussian democracy activist)
 * Palden Gyatso (former Buddhist prisoner of conscience)
 * Arne L. Lynngård (president of the Rafto Foundation)
 * Park Sang Hak (North Korean democracy activist)
 * Magne Ove Varsi (indigenous rights leader)
 * Vo Van Ai (Vietnamese human rights activist)
 * Sarah Bronfman (Heiress to the Seagram's fortune)
 * Jacqueline Moudeina (head of the Chadian Human Rights Commission)
 * Peder Lunde (Norwegian Olympic medallist)
 * Vladimir Bukovsky (former Soviet dissident)
 * Harry Wu (Chinese dissident)
 * Leyla Zana (former Turkish political prisoner)
 * Victor Hugo Cardenas (former vice-president of Bolivia)
 * Emil Constantinescu (former president of Romania)
 * Jung Chang (author, Wild Swans)
 * Jack Healey (former Executive Director, Amnesty International)
 * L. Craig Johnstone (Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations)
 * Greg Mortenson (co-author, Three Cups of Tea)

After the conference, each contribution was published on the internet. Due to illness, Vaclav Havel and Elie Wiesel each participated through a video segment recorded for the Oslo Freedom Forum. Additionally, Ramón José Velásquez, 94-year old former president of Venezuela, participated by video.

Participants 2010
Among those present at the 2010 conference were:
 * Kjell Magne Bondevik (former Norwegian Prime Minister)
 * Kristin Clemet (former NorwegianMinister of Education and Research)
 * John Peder Egenaes (secretary general, Amnesty International Norway)
 * H.E. Manizha Bakhtari (Afghan Ambassador to Norway)
 * Kai Eide (U.N. Special Representative to Afghanistan and Head of UNAMA)
 * Jan Erik Helgesen (president, Venice Commission)
 * Torstein Nybo (co-producer, Burma VJ)
 * Åsne Seierstad (author, The Bookseller of Kabul)
 * Therese Jebsen (executive director, Rafto Foundation)
 * Kate Hughes (Women for Women International)
 * Mark Belinsky (Digital Democracy)
 * Birgitta Ohlsson (Swedish Minister for European Union Affairs)
 * Vladimir Bukovsky (former Soviet political prisoner)
 * Emil Constantinescu (former president of Romania)
 * Mauro de Lorenzo (VP for Freedom and Free Enterprise, John Templeton Foundation) Michael C. Moynihan (senior editor, Reason magazine)
 * Paula Schrifer (director of advocacy, Freedom House, James Traub (contributing writer, The NYT Magazine)
 * Claudia Rosett (columnist, Forbes magazine)
 * Mona Eltahawy (award-winning Egyptian journalist)
 * Diego Arria (former President of the U.N. Security Council)
 * Julian Assange (founder, WikiLeaks)
 * Lubna al-Hussein (Sudanese women's rights advocate)
 * Anwar Ibrahim (Leader of the Opposition, Malaysia)
 * Rebiya Kadeer (President, World Uyghur Congress)
 * Kang Chol-hwan (author, Aquariums of Pyongyang)
 * Garry Kasparov (Russian chess grandmaster and democracy advocate)
 * Mart Laar (former Prime Minister, Estonia)
 * Leopoldo Lopez (opposition leader, Venezuela)
 * Marina Nemat (former political prisoner, Iran)
 * Clara Rojas (Colombian politician, formerly kidnapped by the FARC)
 * Sima Samar (Chairperson of the AIHRC)
 * Benjamin Skinner (author, A Crime So Monstrous)
 * Mukthar Mai (Pakistani women's rights advocate)
 * Peter Thiel (co-founder, PayPal)
 * Samuel Kofi Woods (Minister of Public Works, Liberia)
 * Lidia Yusupova (Chechen lawyer)
 * Armando Valladares (former Cuban political prisoner)
 * Lech Walesa (former Polish president; Nobel Laureate)
 * Jared Genser (President, Freedom Now)
 * Kasha Jacqueline (Ugandan rights activist)
 * Gilbert Tuhabonye (Burundian genocide survivor)
 * Pierre Claver Mbonimpa (Burundian prison reformer)
 * Siegmar Faust (German author)
 * Marcel Granier (Venezuelan journalist)
 * Zuhdi Jasser (President and Founder, American Islamic Forum for Democracy)
 * Abdulkarim Al-Khaiwani (Yemeni journalist)
 * Guadalupe Llori (Ecuadorian politician)
 * Sophal Ear (scholar of the Cambodian genocide)
 * Alyaksandr Kazulin (Belarusian opposition leader)

Additionally, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, Vietnamese religious leader Thich Quang Do, and Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez all participated via video.